(MENAFN – The Conversation) Up to one billion tonnes of waste could be incinerated in open and uncontrolled fires worldwide each year, according to one estimate – nearly half of the municipal solid waste that has been dumped created on Earth. But even if the real truth is a fraction of that amount, the impact on human health and the environment is likely to be profound, especially for the hundreds of millions of people living in countries on throughout the southern hemisphere where outdoor waste incineration is a major method of waste treatment.
Unregulated waste fires burn at much lower and inconsistent temperatures, resulting in infinite combing. This releases materials from the waste and creates new ones as molecules decompose and regenerate in the flames. Dioxide and associated fertilizers are often formed when PVC is burned in open fires. It is believed that at least 30 of these types of fertilizers are harmful to human health. They can persist in the environment for years and in the human body for perhaps ten years or more. There is evidence that they can damage the brain and disturb hormones.
In high-income countries such as the UK, waste incineration usually occurs in energy-from-waste plants (sometimes abbreviated as EfW), which use expensive equipment to control keep them burning while generating heat and electricity. It takes a lot of money and solemn engineering to burn solid waste safely.
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How emissions from burning waste in the open field reach people and the environment. Cook & Velis (2021), author authored
People burn trash when their options are limited. Across low- and middle-income countries, their hard waste is not collected by two billion people, which means they have to take responsibility for getting rid of waste products. is at the end of their engineered life. If there is little space for dumping on land, or a nearby river, the burning option becomes more attractive.
Burning case
Our research has found that open burning is not only a necessary but a means to an end. In some developing countries, it is common practice for informal or illegal recyclers to set fire to electrical cables and burn off the PVC cover until the copper is sold – a way to much quicker and easier than taking it off by hand. The same thing happens for other electronic components, such as the printed circuit boards found in computers and other home appliances. These include a wealth of precious metals bonded to plastics.
Burning plastics produce air fertilizers that are thought to be hazardous to health. Unigraphoto / Shutterstock
In homes, burning food and other biological waste reduces the smell and discourages animals that may transmit disease. In hospitals and medical centers, substances that can carry pathogens can be neutralized by burning them, and even the World Health Organization encourages this when there is no other option. Despite these benefits, open incineration of waste threatens the health and lives of people who have little choice but to contain emissions.
Part of the challenge is that local authorities are encouraged not to pay attention to open burning. Roadside rubbish does not need to be collected and lump fires free up valuable space to store more rubbish. Ideally, combing causes debris to disappear. But in reality, it is turned into dangerous substances that are much easier to disperse and import.
Read more: Global electronic waste up 21% in five years, and recycling is not sustaining
Burning waste will have a devastating effect on those most exposed to it. Surprisingly, it is the urban poor and waste collectors that make up the world’s informal recycling sector. Dealing with this problem at the level of the whole systems of production and waste management is the only way to deal with it effectively. This means providing waste disposal services for all communities, urban and rural. But it also means designing and manufacturing products that cause less damage when burned, especially in areas where there is a high risk of this happening.
Much of the waste burned is in plastic open fires, which emit CO₂ and other greenhouse gases. To make matters even more challenging, these unburned plastics can contaminate the ground and water. Here is an interesting trade. Can the global community overcome decades of neglect to solve one of the biggest environmental issues of our time?
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